Link building, does query string matter?
-
Hi All, We have some partners which link to our site, and they put "?ref=SITENAME" so we Can identify the source of the link....but does this matter to the search engines? Does this count as a different page than the one without the query string? -Rasmus
-
Yep. Remember to do the same in Bing's webmaster app too.
-
I have just checked GWT, and we had over 7000 pages with the ref string.
So I have changed the setting for this query string, telling Google that it does not affect the content of the page. That should be it right? From now on the Google should regard http://www.betxpert.com?ref=XXX as http://www.betxpert.com right?
-
Canonical will work yes, but I think it will be quicker and easier to change handling of the query parameter in gwt and bwc. If you use other query parameters canonical might be best.
-
As far as I can see in GWT, I have pages with the "?ref=XXX" which gives me pages with the same meta descriptions and titles.
So you are saying that using canonical this would help it?
If i am missing link juice to my home page because of this reference I really want to fix it
-
Hi
I think you're asking a question about duplicate content, and Google possibly indexing more than one version of the same page?
To avoid this from happening, add the canonical tag to the head of all your pages;
Each canonical should contain the original URL for each page. This will avoid indexation of the same page multiple times.
Jassy is likely correct, that the engines know how to ignore referral parameters, but you should have a canonical in place in most cases anyway.
-Dan
-
Google and bing probably are ignoring them (you can check how they're being handled if you look in GWT or BWC at how parameters are being handled). To be 100% sure, tell bing and google to ignore the ref parameter.
I'm assuming you only really care about bing and google.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
On-Page / Site Optimization+Link Building -check help!
HI all, have also Question One, i don't understand how is this website : competitor website http://hack-clash-royale. com/ beter them my website i analze i have more more backlink and my website is strong have good seo but not on first position, you can tell me what is problem, my website is 4-5# and competitor 1-2# .. thanks
Link Building | | Fahad5Saleem0 -
Help on Link Building
Hi, Recently I've dropped two points on my Root Domain Authority for smallhope.com. Not really sure why. I've done as much on page optimisation that I can think of, but what I would really like some help on is Link Building. If this was your domain what would you do specifically and start link building. I've read a ton of stuff but I just dont seem to know a way to begin. Can you offer me any advice? I've dropped 20% in traffic in the last 8 months. Hope you can help, Adam
Link Building | | NaescentAdam0 -
Link building with About.com and ehow.com
Does anyone know if About.com has a policy on providing back links to websites. A client of mine has had a product reviewed on about.com as well as being included in a "how to" article, but no back link was provided. I checked out the page and noticed "paid for advertisement" back links over random words but no back links on any of the pages I randomly searched that were related to the topic being discussed.
Link Building | | jusdavi0 -
What is the best company to use when building links to feature on multiple directories online?
I am looking to build links for my clients who are in a very competitive industry 'airport parking', can you advise where I can submit their URL to generate good quality links without being penalised?
Link Building | | shami0 -
Is it important to have a geo modifier for local SEO link building?
If anyone here is familiar with local SEO, you may have noticed that there are different local results for: "city + Keyword" and just the "keyword". When building links will you end up targeting both with a geo modifier in the link, or is it beneficial to build links without the geo modifer for the keyword?
Link Building | | dignan990 -
Building a link building team
I just joined SEOmoz and I have enjoyed all the information. I currently outsource link building to an agency that charges $50 per link. For this, they handle the anchor text creation, the surrounding text and solicitation, acquisition and monitoring. I know they send the actual work to their independent contractors. How do you find those independent contractors so that I can build my own network of contractors and save the client money?
Link Building | | SEOtrojan0 -
Best Link Building Practice
Are there any articles or tutorials here about how to build links? The only two methods I've been able to uncover are using OSE to analyze competitors backlinks and directory listings. I'm thinking there must be other ways.
Link Building | | waynekolenchuk0 -
April Fool's for Link Building
Is there a better day for link baiting than April 1st? The time has come for everyone to share their April Fool's Day link building campaigns! This is our second attempt at capitalizing on April Fools with the first attempt (2010) falling flat. http://bigfi.sh/aFd2011
Link Building | | RyanOD0